Karma again...

So Karma is smacking me upside the head for having such a good couple of days (amazing thrift store fines, 89 on my psych test, Sean called from Fort Lauderdale, got the Chapters job).

I couldn't sleep last night. Then, I realise that Sean didn't leave me a cheque or his bank info for the rent, so I had to call Mom to bail me out until he gets home. I HATE THAT! I want to be able to stand on my own two feet, and I just can't. I also have a makeup Psych test to do, and the only day available is tomorrow evening. So I have 5 chapters of Psych to study and learn tonight.

The cats stole my glasses (they fell off the nighttable last night, and I saw them on the shelf. This morning they're not even in the bedroom, no idea where they are.)

The Italian cultural festival is going on outside my window, making it
a) hard to study
b) really tempting (no, I'm not going. I'm too cranky to go, and too busy)

I have to work from 9:45 AM to 9:30 PM Tuesday and Wednesday - Now the evening stuff is for Chapters so I completely don't mind, and I still like working at the Fort...but still. I'm going to have to eat Fast Food or something since I only have ten minutes once I finish the commute back to TBay after the Fort until I have to be at Chapters. It also leaves no extra time for more unpacking.

Tuesday night I have my second English assignment due, so I'm going to have to finish it up tomorrow. After the Psych test.

I'm gonna NEED the psych test. It'll prove I'm crazy.

I also got these at the thrift store, that is the glass vases (they're those green bottle glass that was popular in the 70's) and ALL the grey plastic straights. I already had the coloured straights and dpn's. The vases were 99 cents each as well, and the needles - at least 20 SETS of needles, 5 bucks. Craziness, I tell you. I've been dropping in on the thrift stores fairly regularly in hopes of finding needles, and they never have any. Well, this was the mother lode. They must have just had a major drop off. The only problem is that most of them are in British sizing, and I've lost my needle-size gauge (Wal-Mart was out) so I don't know their actual sizes for now. I also don't know what size dpn's I have, but once I find/get a needle guage I'm going to use nail polish to paint stripes on them so I know what size they are. Red is for 1's, pink is for 5's, then I'll use the stripes like roman numerals. The saucer is to hold stitch markers and row counters and the like.

Look at the board games I got at Sally Ann and Value Village! 99 cents apiece, and both have ALL the pieces and are in mint condition! I think it's just swell ;)

Got the job!

Yayyyyyyy!!! I got the job at Chapters!! I'm very excited. I'm also VERY tired because I swept, vacuumed, and washed floors, as well as cleaning out the cat box and cleaning the bathroom. Tomorrow I have to write my second-last psychology test and clean the kitchen.

I also have to make a POA Gryffindor tie, since the beaver ball is coming up. That's a costume dinner dance that Fort William holds every year, and this year it's Heroes and Villans, I'm going as Hermione.

The lovely Erin> from the yahoo group HPKnit has let me post the pattern for a pygmy puff here. It works just great!

Pygmy Puff Pattern!

Need pink or purple yarn, she used Berroco Plush, I used Bernat PingPong, and two strands of eyelash.
Three size "E" beads, two eye colour, one nose colour.
Sewing Thread + Needle

Size 4 (3.5mm) straight (or two dpn)

CO 9 stitches.

Row 1: Knit 6 stitches. Turn (leave 3)
Row 2: Knit 3 stitches. Turn (leave 3)
Row 3: Knit 5 stitches. Turn (leave 1)
Row 4: Knit 7 stitches. Turn (leave 1)
Row 5: Knit to end.
Row 6: Knit to end.

Repeat rows 1-6 five more times. Bind off, leaving a long tail. Use a
running stitch to close the top. Seam down the back and turn right-
side out. Stuff firmly with polyfill and close the bottom with
another running stitch. Add a face with beads. Weave all yarn ends
into the ball. Brush the yarn to bring up a "halo" if you like.

See hers at her blog, see mine here, on July 27 2005.

This is the dressing gown I made tonight. I LOVE it, it turned out so pretty! It's a pale rose pink material with a large burgundy line-drawn pattern of roses. I used dark rose satin blanket binding to edge it and use as a tie. It's so bootiful!

Florida Presents, Part 1

Thanks Linz, I'm happy with the way the socks too :D I hope to finish the first one tonight (of course, now that I've stated that, it likely won't be finished until at LEAST two weeks when Sean is back from Florida since I've just asked for karma to smakc me). Also, if you want to make a pygmy puff, I'll ask the wonderful lady who wrote out the pattern on the yahoo group if I can post it here (with due credit to her, of course). They're SO much fun and so cute. I've had requests from people for them already!

I dropped Sean off at the airport at quarter after five, he promised to bring back a Tinkerbell t-shirt, or other Tinkerbell item - although when I talk to him on the phone I might ask for a cheshire cat one instead! He also is going to bring things from this quilt store his Mom wants to go to.

Yay! Although I'll miss him while he's gone, very much.

Pygmy Puff

It's a pygmy puff! Isn't it absolutely adorable? The pattern is Erin's from the HPKnit yahoo group. I knit it using a strand of Bernat PingPong in bright pink, Bernat Eyelash in "Wink", and Red Heart Foxy in a purple variegated colour. The beads are size "E" seed beads, sewed on afterwards. The loop at the top is for hanging, although right now she's guarding the top of our TV, between the stereo speakers.

I found the sockapal2za sock! Yay! It's going well, I've got the lace pattern memorized which makes everything MUCH faster to work. I like how the lace pattern is really starting to look like lace (imagine that).

Chapters Interview

I have a second interview, one-on-one, tomorrow! Yay! I hope it goes well. I'm not sure what to wear though, since I already wore one of my really nice "interview" outfits.

I also feel MUCH better for having taken two days off work. I still have the wicked sore throat, but I don't feel like I was hit by a truck.

In the move, unfortunately, my sockapal2za socks have disappeared. I have confidence they'll turn up eventually, but at the moment I can't knit on them which upsets me. I'd really gotten into a groove with them and now I'm afraid they won't be done on time.

No pygmy puff yet, hopefully soon. Today we have to unpack some more stuff before Sean goes to Florida, and I have to try driving again with my knee. We'll see how that goes over!

Strep Throat

I have a really nasty case of strep throat, and judging from Amanda's "Don't come to work! We don't want it!" I'm the new typhoid Mary.

I'm spending my time, therefore, catching up on schoolwork and I will be knitting a Pygmy Puff (see Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince).

I did still have my Chapters interview today, and I think it went very well. In fact, they're not hiring for August but instead for September-December. Therefore, I'd easily be able to handle the job. I should find out at the end of this week if I get a second interview.

My throat hurts.

Sean's going for doughnuts. Mmmmmm.....doughnuts....

Sorry for the lack of posts, hazards of moving. It is very hot again, at least in the apartment, and I'm still feeling lousy. I did dishes and cleaned up the bedroom, I think I'll clean some more before collapsing.

Chapters called, I have an interview on Tuesday to work for them 3 evenings and one weekend day during the summer, then during the school year. I don't know if I want to give up one weekend day though, I work very hard at the Fort, then with all that extra work AND doing two courses AND with friends coming...

We need money though. A lot. I'll talk to Sean and see what he says. I have a feeling he'll think "No", since I'm only JUST starting to get back on my feet with my health issues (this throat thingy doesn't count).

If I give up the work this summer, I think the fall-winter employment opportunity is gone too, which bites because that I could handle.

Never was there a more tale of woe...

No, my love life is fine. Fantastic actually, we're very happy with the new apartment.

My tale of woe is something else. As my readers ( *giggle snort* I really do have readers! At least 4! E., Ang, Mom, and Linz) will know, I busted up my knee at work this summer, and so haven't been able to work. However, it's getting better and they took me off crutches so I can go back to work now.

Wait for it.

My family has had a really, really terrible chest cold, more like influenza really. My sister got it, then gave it to my Mom. No worries, because I live 400 km away right? Well remember that wedding? For 2 nights we slept in the same room, were in the same van, and sat next to one another. I heard from them on Saturday that Dad started coming down with it. I'm starting to sweat a little, but think "OK, we'll bump up the Vitamin C and down some echinacea".

I have a sore throat.
And my left tonsil has really disgusting grey lumps on it. It looks like it's molding.

God help me.

It's too hot here to do anything. It's 43C. Anyone who thinks Canada is always cold should think again.

*melts*

A quick note to say THANK YOU to the Harlot for the socks. I love them, and would be wearing them right now, except that it's 35C.

It's too hot.

Warning! Wedding Picture Intensive!

Well, I'm finally back from Alberta. I'm so sorry to all my Edmonton friends that I didn't get to make it out there :( I really wanted to, but we didn't have time. I flew out Thursday evening, and got back Sunday evening, just enough time for the wedding essentially. It was a beautiful wedding, with many pictures below. I caught the bouquet! I also had time to work on the sockapal2za socks, with a couple pictures below as well.

Angela, if you're reading this, I'm sending you an e-mail pronto about visiting (yay!), just so we can catch up some more and confirm. Jenny, same to you. I know that Ang is probably busy with work and Jenny at Ann Arbour, but I've been terribly negligent in correspondence (with Elizabeth too, of course, but I get to MSN chat with you a little more).

Hope everyone's summer is going well!

Oh yes, one more thing. It is SCORCHING here. SCORCHING. With the humidity it's about 40C. Our apartment is on the top floor and has no cross breeze and no air conditioning. We may go out and water fight later.

This is a slightly fuzzy picture of my first sockapal2za sock! I've got it over my hand so you can see the lace pattern stretched out. It's Gull Wings from "Socks socks socks". The yarn is really pretty and soft.

The sock, unstretched. It is very stretchy! I'm glad, because I was worried at first that it was too small, but I think it will be OK.

Ahh, yes. The view of Waterton Lakes National Park. It certainly was beautiful there, and we saw a grizzly and many mule deer.

The maid of honour, Donna. She's holding Heather's bouquet for the ring exchange.

"You may now kiss the bride". It's a beautiful picture!

The happy couple, Chad and Heather. Heather's dress was beautiful. It wrapped around one side, defining her waist, and above the wrap there was sequin and beadwork. Her hair was curled and left down. Instead of throwing rice, we blew bubbles.

The wedding party, after the wedding. I love the colour of the bridesmaids dresses, they're sort of a medium green, somewhere between sage and olive. They're a little "blued" in this picture because of the lighting in the shade. The bouquet is calla lilies in pink and cream, with baby roses in cream, tipped with pink. And I caught it!

In order from left: Aunt Iris, Olivia, Becky, and Mom (Gloria). We're dancing at the reception. Olivia has a habit of holding people's index fingers, or pinkies. I guess because her hands are so small.

Here's Olivia and I dancing. Isn't she cute? She danced more than everyone there. Becky danced almost as much, and despite my bad knee I probably came in third.

Again, no posting for awile. Things have been busy, we got back from Minneapolis on Monday (I got food poisoning Sunday so we had to overnight in Duluth) and now we're moving like crazy to get my stuff out of my apartment into our new two bedroom (same building). Sean's stuff doesn't need to go until next week.

I'm also going to Calgary this weekend for my cousin's wedding, lots of pictures sure to follow from that (I forgot to take nearly any in Minneapolis).

Back Sunday - and progress has started on the sockpal2za, no worries sockapal. They're Sockotta yarn (45% cotton, 40% superwash wool, 15% nylon) in colour 18, which is varigated red-green-blue-purple, and is spun with a white thread as well. I'm using the "Gull Wing" socks from "Socks, socks, socks". I should have enough to make me socks too! Plus, the yarn is from the Minnesota trip, making it extra special.